A Guide to the United States vs. State of Texas, Case #5281, Records,
1971.

The 1970 court case where William
Wayne Justice, chief judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Texas, ordered the Texas Education Agency to assume responsibility for
desegregating Texas public schools. Frequently named by its docket number, Civil
Order 5281

In the court case United States v. Texas, known by its docket number Civil Order
5281, resulted in the largest series of desegregation orders in legal history. In
1970, the ruling gave Chief Judge William Wayne Justice the authority to order the
Texas Education Agency to assume responsibility for overseeing desegregation in
Texas public schools and institutions. The case originated in the Johnson
administration in the 1960s when the United States Department of Health, Education,
and Welfare investigated allegations of discrimination in several small Texas school
districts. Judge Justice used this case to issue a series of orders to end
discrimination in public schools by means of specific orders, guidelines, and
mandatory annual reviews.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit confirmed Justice’s ruling,
but removed his authority to issue orders to districts that were or would be under
the jurisdiction of other federal courts in Texas. Justice attempted to expand this
order in 1982 to alleged discrimination against Mexican Americans in
Gregory-Portland Independent School District. Enforcement of these orders became
sporadic at best by the early 1990s.

The United States vs. State of Texas, Case #5281 Records, 1971, is comprised of an
exhibits photograph album, suits, briefs, and opinions filed in other courts that
affected the case. The collection also includes exhibits of the plaintiff,
defendant, and government.

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe
Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.